Lawmakers: Speed US Arms Sales To Jordan

Safi Kassasbeh, the father of Jordanian pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh held by the Islamic State (IS) group, speaks during a press conference in Amman on February 1, 2015. Jordan vowed to do all it could to save the airman held by the Islamic State group after the jihadists killed a Japanese journalist they had been holding. AFP PHOTO / KHALIL MAZRAAWI (Photo credit should read KHALIL MAZRAAWI/AFP/Getty Images)

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, and other lawmakers from both chambers met privately Monday with King Abdullah of Jordan, meetings that happened to coincide with the violent Islamic group releasing a video showing Jordanian military pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh being burned to death in a cage.

In those closed-door sessions, Abdullah expressed frustration with the length of time it takes weapon sales to weave through the complex labyrinth that is the American federal bureaucracy.

Any unplanned sales to Jordan would be a shot in the arm of the US defense sector, which says — despite record profits — it has been hurt by annual across-the-board Pentagon budget cuts.

At the start of Ashton Carter's confirmation hearing to be secretary of defense, SASC Chairman Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the chamber could soon move legislation to meet the military needs spelled out by Abdullah.